By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya—Today, Wednesday January 9, 2012, eight Kenyans were killed when armed raiders attacked a village in Kenya’s coastal province. The police said that it was politically instigated fighting that has been linked to the upcoming elections. These raiders were armed not only with guns but also with machetes and arrows. The Pokomo farmers attacked a tribe of semi-nomadic Orma pastoralists. Disputes between these groups have endured since August 2012 over grazing land and water. In August, over 100 people were killed in raids and revenge attacks.

The Pokomo tribe raiders attacked a Nduru village in the Tana delta (home of the Ormas) and killed one woman and four men. In their defense, the Ormas killed two of the attackers and one other Orma died on the way to the hospital. Red Cross coordinator, Mwanaisha Hamisi, said, “Many of them were bleeding from gunshot wounds and cuts and we had to administer first aid as we carried them to the hospital.”

In the August attacks, over 400 animals were killed and houses were torched requiring the President to impose a curfew in that area. The victims were attacked with machetes and burned to death as the two tribes fought one another over the Orma-owned cattle grazing on land that the Pokomo claim as theirs. All of this took place as the inspector general of the police force, David Kimaiyo, requested a meeting in Nairobi to come with new strategies to address this violence which has left over 150 people dead.

The regional police chief, Affrey Adoli, told reporters, “We have names of several politicians, business people and local elites who we believe have been and are still funding attacks in the Tana. They are using grazing land and water as excuses.” “When we arrest them, they will tell us how and where they are acquiring illegal firearms and other weapons to arm these locals,” Adoli continued.

President Mwai Kibaki, has now ordered a judicial commission to review options on how to end this fighting and deadly violence. These outbreaks of violence, while claimed to be about land rights, have also raised concerns over security and police capacity for the upcoming elections on March 4. Five years ago, the elections ended with deadly post-poll killings and violence that tore apart Kenya’s prior image as being a beacon of regional stability and peace. The elections in March of this year, will determine the presidency, parliament, and regional posts and councils.

 

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Tribal Clash Kills 7; Police Blame Politics – 9 January 2013

Al Jazeera – Several Killed in Kenya Coastal Violence – 9 January 2013

Reuters – Eight Killed in Kenya Raid, Police See Political Hand – 9 January 2013

Standard Digital News – Tana Attack Death Toll Reaches Nine – 9 January 2013

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

TRIPOLI, Libya—On Monday, December 31, Libya’s Christian community was in shock after a Coptic church was attacked near the city of Misrata. Two Egyptians were killed n the bombing and fear continues to grow of rising extremism. The priest of the church, Markos Zaglul Boules said, “When we were praying we heard the explosion which struck a side room of the church used for services.” “I am very sad for this cowardly and criminal act and the loss of our sons,” he continued.

The church is located in the Mediterranean town of Dafinya. It was built between 1936 and 1937 during the Italian colonial rule. The church is popular among Egyptians living in Libya. Libya, as a whole, has a small Christian population that is composed mainly of foreigners. This group includes migrant workers from Egypt, where Coptic Orthodox Christians are the largest religious minority.

Pastor Dominique Rezeau of the St. Francis Catholic church in Tripoli, noted that, “This is the first time we see such an attack. Christians never had a particular problem in Libya before or after the revolution.” “Everyone should be concerned. Especially if you look at the trend in northern Nigeria,” the pastor continued.

With the recent series of attacks against diplomatic missions and aid agencies, attacks against Sufi shrines and mosques, the country begins to fear the growth militant extremist groups. Before the uprising that overthrew Kadhafi, the country had a population of around 6.3 million, including about 1.5 million African immigrants many of whom fled during the fighting—these numbers included 97 percent Muslim and only about 3 percent Christian.

Karim Bitar, an expert, analyzed the situation finding that, “the worry is that Christians in Libya…be but the first to suffer from the Libyan central government’s endemic weakness and the proliferation of armed militias.” “We in Misrata consider this act a crime, an un-Islamic and inhumane crime,” noted Colonel Hadi Shaklawun, who is the head of national security in Misrata. He also said that no one has been detained so far, but the investigation continues until those responsible are accounted for.

 

For further information, please see:

Catholic World News – 2 Dead Following Church Bombing in Libya – 2 January 2013

World News Australia – Deadly Church Blast Rocks Libya – 1 January 2013

Kuwait News Agency – Qatar Condemns Egyptian Church Bombing in Libya – 31 December 2012

BBC News – Libya Coptic Church Blast Kills Two Egyptians – 30 December 2012

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Human rights groups say Kenya’s decision to move refugees and asylum-seekers out of urban areas and into rural camps is “discriminatory” and “unlawful”.

Last Tuesday, the Kenyan government issued an order requiring Somali refugees and asylum-seekers living in urban centers including Nairobi, Nakuru and Mombasa to transfer to the Dadaab refugee camp complex in north-eastern Kenya, while those from other countries will be required to transfer to the Kakuma camp.

The government contends that this decision is meant to ensure the safety of Kenyan citizens since refugees have been allegedly involved in recent attacks in the capital and various parts of the Northeastern region.

On Friday, President Kibaki called for support to have them returned to their home countries. “There is no dignity in living in refugee camps,” he told the press after a meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. “Our two governments will work together to enable the hundreds of thousands of Somalia people who are living in refugee camps return to their homes . . . We also call on the international community to play their part and help the people of Somalia live in honourable lives in their homes,” he said.

Once the order is implemented, Kenya will no longer receive and register any new refugees and asylum-seekers. Registration centers in the mentioned urban areas will also close down. The Commissioner for the Department of Refugee Affairs Badu Katelo has also requested the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR) to stop giving any services to those in urban areas.

However, the UNHCR, along with the Amnesty International, refused to acknowledge the resolution calling it illegal and in violation of international law regarding the protection of refugee rights.

The UNHCR claimed that the Kenyan government did not consult with relevant and concerned stakeholders before carrying out the order. The UN agency also said that the government failed to consider that most camps in the rural areas are already overcrowded. Thus, the resolution was “insensitive to the rights and plight of refugees.”

Amnesty International shared the same view. “This restriction on freedom of movement is likely to lead to other serious human rights abuses in already overcrowded, insecure refugee camps,” said Amnesty International’s East Africa observer Kathryn Achilles.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, which provides health aid and services in Dadaab, reported that it was already struggling to cope with the number of refugees in the camp.

Both the UNHCR and Amnesty International reminded the Kenyan government that it is a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention. Therefore, it is under an obligation to protect those seeking asylum on its territory.

“Kenya must live up to its obligations under international law, and must have the support of the international community to do so, including through increased funding and resettlement programmes,” urged Amnesty International in a recent press release.

 

For further information, please see:

Daily Nation – Kenya tightens resolve on Somalia refugees – 23 December 2012

All Africa – Kenya: Fury Over Order for All Refugees to Go to Daadab – 22 December 2012

BBC News – Kenya’s Somali refugee plan unlawful, says Amnesty – 21 December 2012

Reuters – Amnesty says Kenya sending refugees to camps unlawful – 21 December 2012

Amnesty International – Kenya’s decision to confine refugees and asylum-seekers in camps is unlawful – 20 December 2012

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya—David Kuria, Kenya’s first openly gay politician to run in the country’s election was forced to withdraw from the race. Kuria’s supporters were more than disappointed when he announced that he could not carry out the senate race because of lack of funds. He could not raise enough to cover personal security and logistics of the race. He also received many threatening text messages saying that his candidacy would bring “a curse to the land.”

Kuria told the Guardian, “It is one of the saddest decisions I have had to make during my years working as a human rights activist. I had seen changes in the way our people in the villages view gay people. For many people gay people and gay rights are perceived though mediated interpretation of politicians and religious leaders. For the first time it was possible to talk with people, answer their questions as well as point out the nexus areas of different forms of marginalization, including poverty and other challenged that affect them, too.”

Kuria, age 40, was the first openly gay person in Africa to run for political office outside of South Africa. His campaign could not go forward after his fundraising campaign raised only 4% of its target. Kuria also never lacked opposition, especially in Kenya’s conservative Christian heartlands. Moses Wetangula, a cabinet minister, noted that if Kuria was elected, a revolt would surely be carried out against the government. Wetangula also said that an openly gay man should not “have an opportunity or privilege to lead a country that is founded on religious morality.”

Under Kenyan law, acts of homosexuality are punishable up to 14 years in jail. In 2011, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission took a survey that revealed that only 18% of LGBT Kenyans had opened up about their sexual orientation to their families and that of these 89% of them had been disowned. Homosexuality is also outlawed in 36 African countries with many politicians finding gay people to be “unafrican.” Kuria addressed this issue, saying, “Again that is one of those stories that have been told over and over again that it has come to be seen as true. But there are also very few public LBBT voices—these need to increase for the narrative to be debunked.”

 

For further information, please see:

Mail and Guardian – Kenya’s First Gay Political Candidate Reveals Why He Quit Race – 26 December 2012

Kenya Today – Kenya’s First Gay Political Candidate Reveals Why He Quit Race – 25 December 2012

The Guardian – Kenya’s First Gay Political Candidate Reveals Why He Quit Race – 25 December 2012

Topix – Kenya’s First Gay Political Candidate Reveals Why He Quit Race – 25 December 2012

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo – Earlier this week on Tuesday, the International Criminal Court, Trial Chamber II, handed down their decision in the case against Mathieu Ngudjolo.  Ngudjolo was charged with committing crimes against humanity in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1993.

The judges unanimously acquitted Ngudjolo of the charges, with one filing a concurring opinion.  Presiding Judge Bruno Cotte (France) said that the prosecution’s case was unable to present the evidence that made it possible for the court to find that Ngudjolo was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ngudjolo was charged with three counts of crimes against humanity and seven counts of war crimes, stemming from the destruction of the village of Bogoro on 24 February 2003.  It was alleged Ngudjolo was the leader of the Lendu group that murdered and raped some 200 people, including women and children.

Prosecutors presented witnesses who described the day, relating that babies were thrown against walls, women raped and villagers hacked to pieces with machetes.  The three key prosecution witnesses, used to show Ngudjolo was the leader of the attack, were found by the judges to be unreliable.  Their testimonies were too vague and contradictory for them to prove the prosecution’s claim of Ngudjolo being the leader.

The ICC judges stressed that they did not, “question what the people of this community have suffered on that day … If an allegation has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt … this does not necessarily mean that the alleged fact did not occur.”

The acquittal is only the second verdict handed down by the ICC since it opened its doors 10 years ago.  Earlier this year, the court’s first verdict found Thomas Lubanga, another Congolese rebel leader, guilty of using child soldiers and sentenced him to a 14 year prison term.

As the verdict was read, Ngudjolo showed no emotion.  His defense team, whose case rested on the claim that Ngudjolo was not even present in the village that day and only heard about the attack in the days after, was sure the court’s verdict was correct.  Jean-Pierre Kilenda, one of his lawyers said that the judges properly showed that they respected the rights of defendants.

Experts in international law are worried what this verdict will do for the faith the public has in the prosecution team.  Eric Witte of the Open Society Justice Initiative said that Chief Prosecutor, Fatou Bensoda and her team might need to rethink the way that cases are built as, “a pattern of prosecution failures could undermine support for the court as a whole.”

 

For further information, please see:

All Africa – Congo-Kinshasa: ICC Acquits Mathieu Ngudjolo in Second Verdict – 18 December 2012

Congo Planet – International Criminal Court Acquits Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui – 18 December 2012

The Guardian – ICC Acquits Congolese Militia Leader Over Atrocities – 18 December 2012

NY Times – Court Acquits Congo Rebel Leader of War Crimes – 18 December 2012